Today we bid farewell to Tibet, and put our art project comprised of landscapes of mountains and prayer flags in our passports. Each of the prayer flags contains a sacred symbol of Tibet: a yak, a lotus, the Dalai Lama, and a rider on a horse.
We are playing with our finger alphabet and short rhyming words, practicing reading with adding a first letter to short recognizable sight words. For example, “am” becomes “ram,” “ham,” “dam,” etc. The ASL finger letters assist in keeping phonetic memory “in their bodies.” Ask your friend to demonstrate. (NOTE: It is fine to use nonsense words like “fam,” “nam,” “zam,” etc. These words actually demonstrate their “sound” knowledge.)
In math, we always work in partners, and one friend helps another. We use separate worksheets so all the friends are engaged and developing writing and recording skills. Working with partners teaches them to “check in” with each other and check their answers. It also takes the pressure off: They work side by side focusing on their work and not competing with others.
Our outdoor play is changing with the thaw. Rather than sledding, pretend play in the beech grove and around the fallen birch branches has increased. We tend to go out at the end of the day for 30 to 45 minutes.
We continue our reading of Gaia Girls by Lee Wells. The central character, Elizabeth, along with some supportive parents and neighbors take on a large corporate factory pig farm. Elizabeth is visited by a talking otter (actually Gaia “incarnate”) who teaches Elizabeth about the powers she has to save her family farm, as well as the town she lives in. Gaia speaks of herself as a living organism of which we are all part. Although some of the vocabulary is geared for older children, friends have appreciated the story and seem very engaged in the conflict and drama that is unfolding.
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